MUZAFFARABAD: The first phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly by-elections has delivered a clear edge to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which secured nine seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won four seats, according to unofficial and unconfirmed results.
The closely watched contest across Mirpur Division concluded with PML-N emerging as the dominant force among the 13 constituencies of Mirpur, Kotli, and Bhimber, while PPP managed to secure victories in four key constituencies.
According to the unofficial results, PML-N candidates won nine seats, including LA-1 Mirpur-1, LA-4 Mirpur-4, LA-5 Bhimber-1, LA-6 Bhimber-2, LA-7 Bhimber-3, LA-9 Kotli-2, LA-11 Kotli-4, LA-12 Kotli-5, and LA-13 Kotli-6.
PPP candidates secured victories in LA-2 Mirpur-2, LA-3 Mirpur-3, LA-8 Kotli-1, and LA-10 Kotli-3.
In LA-1 Mirpur-1, PML-N’s Azhar Sadiq won with 15,427 votes, while PPP’s Muhammad Afzal Shahid secured 9,832 votes.
In LA-2 Mirpur-2, PPP’s Qasim Majeed emerged victorious with 12,904 votes, defeating PML-N’s Azeem Bakhsh Chaudhry, who received 8,182 votes.
In LA-3 Mirpur-3, PPP’s Chaudhry Yasir Sultan won with 11,676 votes, while PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed secured 9,832 votes.
In LA-4 Mirpur-4, PML-N’s Chaudhry Rukhsar Ahmed won with 20,172 votes, while PPP’s Chaudhry Sohail Arshad received 13,865 votes.
In LA-5 Bhimber-1, PML-N’s Waqar Ahmed Noor secured victory with 29,875 votes, while PPP’s Chaudhry Pervaiz Ashraf remained runner-up with 29,143 votes.
In LA-6 Bhimber-2, PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Razaq won the seat, according to unofficial results.
In LA-7 Bhimber-3, PML-N’s Chaudhry Tariq Farooq won with 35,490 votes, while independent candidate Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq received 25,100 votes.
In LA-8 Kotli-1, PPP’s Zafar Iqbal Malik won with 19,535 votes, while PML-N’s Malik Muhammad Nawaz Khan secured 11,966 votes.
In LA-9 Kotli-2, PML-N’s Umair Naeem secured victory with 31,080 votes, defeating PPP’s Javed Iqbal Budhanvi, who received 28,509 votes.
In LA-10 Kotli-3, PPP’s Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin won with 12,421 votes, while PML-N’s Fateh Mahmood-ul-Hassan received 9,063 votes.
In LA-11 Kotli-4, PML-N’s Muhammad Asif won with 26,190 votes, while PPP’s Chaudhry Muhammad Akhlaq secured 21,751 votes.
In LA-12 Kotli-5, PML-N’s Muhammad Riyasat Khan secured victory with 35,168 votes, while PPP’s Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin received 30,320 votes.
In LA-13 Kotli-6, PML-N’s Raja Ayaz Ahmed Khan won with 21,856 votes, while Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party’s Nisar Ansar Abdali received 15,859 votes.
Election authorities said the final results will be issued by the respective returning officers after completion of the official process.
The Mirpur Division elections involved 1,400,437 registered voters, including 724,811 male and 675,626 female voters.
A total of 2,316 polling stations were established for the first phase of polling, including 1,241 highly sensitive and 724 sensitive polling stations.
To maintain law and order, 18,560 security personnel were deployed across the division, while 2,100 Pakistan Army personnel also performed security duties during the electoral process.
